MIAMI _ The Miami Marlins didn't give Don Mattingly a two-year contract extension Friday because of the wins he piled up on the field in 2019. The Marlins didn't expect to contend for a playoff berth or even seriously threaten a winning record this season. Miami's plan was always to build for the future and it needed a manager capable of relaying the organization's vision to a mostly young roster.
It is undeniable the Marlins played hard in a mostly miserable season. It's why Derek Jeter, Michael Hill and Bruce Sherman all decided to bring him back for at least two more seasons beyond this one to see through the next step of Miami's rebuild, but it couldn't prevent the inevitable for a talent-drained franchise. On the day they decided to announce Mattingly as their manager for the foreseeable future, the Marlins suffered their 100th loss of the season, a 6-4 defeat at the hands of the Washington Nationals in Miami.
The loss guarantees this season will be worse than the last for the Marlins, who won 63 games in 2018. The 100-loss season is the third in franchise history for Miami, joining 1998 and 2013. The Marlins (53-100) still need two more wins to avoid matching the worst finish in team history _ a 54-win season in 1998.
On Friday, Mattingly's team still did pleased Miami's brass all year. Overmatched as they might be, the Marlins battled with a likely playoff team.
The Nationals (84-68) hit first in the top of the third inning with a solo home run by Trea Turner off starting pitcher Robert Dugger and Miami immediately hit back. Outfielder Austin Dean led off the bottom of the third with a double off starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez and utility player Jon Berti knocked him home with a single to right. Two fringe MLB players combined to keep the score tied at 1-1 after three innings.
The crushing blow still came an inning later when utility infielder Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run homer off Dugger (0-3) and Miami still responded. Starlin Castro, who shifted from second base to third base this season when asked by Mattingly, cranked a solo home run off Sanchez (10-8) to cut the deficit to 4-2 at Marlins Park and eventually 5-4 with two more runs in the sixth before the Washington's bullpen settled down to close out a win in front of 12,775.
